1.
THE WRIGLEY MANSION - ARIZONA
The Wrigley Mansion was built in
1932 by chewing gum personality William Wrigley Jr. William Wrigley Jr.
designed this house as a 50th anniversary gift for his wife. The
mansion sits on top of a hill and has gorgeous 360-degree views of the
mountains and the city below. Georgie and Jamie Hormel purchased the property
in 1992 and they restored it with the intention of sharing its magic with
everyone. Today Wrigley Mansion is a popular destination for weddings and
special events, as well as the popular restaurant Geordie’s Steak restaurant
and lounge.
2.
OAK ALLEY PLANTATION - LOUISIANA
3.
ROBERT FROST FARM – NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Robert Frost farm is in
Derry, New Hampshire that Robert Frost lived in from 1900 to 1911. The majority
of poems in his first two books were written here. The property was declared a
National Historic Landmark in 1968. The property is a New Hampshire State Park
and is open to the public seasonally.
4.
OHEKA CASTLE – NEW YORK
Otto Hermann Kahn built Oheka
Castle in the middle of a 443-acre plot on the highest point on Long Island in
Cold Spring Harbor, for an estimated $11 million. The French-style chateau is
the second largest private residence ever built in America. The 109,000 square
foot home consists of 127 rooms. Developer Gary Melius purchased Oheka in 1984
with the intent of restoring the Castle to its original grandeur. After $30 million in restoration, the Castle
is nearly fully restored.
5.
JOHNNY CASH’S BOYHOOD HOME – ARKANSAS
In 1934, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt created The Dyess Colony to aid in the nation’s economic recovery
from the Great Depression. The community provided a fresh start for nearly 500
impoverished Arkansas farm families, including the family of music legend
Johnny Cash. The colony has been restored and opened to visitors in August
2014. Johnny Cash’s boyhood home is furnished as it was when the Cash family
lived there. Tours are given Mondays through Saturdays.
6.
MARK TWAIN HOUSE – CONNECTICUT
Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain)
and Olivia “Livy” Clemens hired New York architect Edward Tuckerman Potter to
design their house on Farmington Avenue in Hartford, Connecticut. Construction
began in August 1873 and the family moved into the house on September 19, 1874.
Twain wrote, “To us, our house…had a heart, and a soul, and eyes to see us
with; and approvals and solicitudes and deep sympathies; it was of us, and we
were in its confidence and lived in its grace and in the peace of its
benediction.” Financial problems forced the Clemens to move to Europe in 1891.
The family never lived in Hartford again.
7.
NEMOURS MANSION – DELEWARE
Alfred I. DuPont was an American
industrialist, financier, and philanthropist. In 1907 Alfred married Alicia,
his second wife. He loved showering her with grandiose gifts and one gift being
the spectacular new house that he built for her on a 3,000-acre plot of land in
Wilmington, Delaware. They named the estate Nemours after the French town that
his great-great-grandfather represented in the French Estates General.
8.
ERNEST HEMINGWAY
HOME – FLORIDA
Ernest Hemingway purchased the
Key West home in 1931 for $8,000 in back taxes from the City of Key West. It
still contains the furniture that he and his family used. The cats that live on
the property are descendants of the cats he had while he lived in the
house. The house is built from limestone
that was excavated directly from the ground beneath. It is believed that the
stone was all hand cut since there were no power tools available at that time.
Today the house serves as a museum. The estate still remains to be the single
largest residential property on the island of Key West.
9.
THE BILTMORE ESTATE – NORTH CAROLINA
George Vanderbilt began
construction on his 250-room French Renaissance chateau in 1889. Taking over
six years to complete, the Biltmore House is the largest undertaking in
residential architecture. In 1895, Vanderbilt opens Biltmore to friends and
family. The finished home contains over four acres of floor space, including 35
bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. The estate attracts almost 1 million
visitors each year and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.
10. GRACELAND
– TENNESSEE
In the spring of 1957, at the
age of just 22, Elvis Presley purchased Graceland for just over $100,000. When
Elvis purchased Graceland, he was working on his second motion picture, “Loving
You,” with “Jailhouse Rock” to follow. Elvis had various homes in the Los
Angeles area and spent a lot of time on the road. However, Graceland was always
home base – a constant in the life of Elvis Presley. Today, you can tour
Graceland and get a glimpse into the personal life of Elvis Presley.